HI Everyone, I'm new and have many questions.

Hi Ya'll !!! My name is Candi I am 27 and I live in Crossville, TN with my husband and 3 boys, ages 7, 4, and 2. I currently weigh 247 lbs and I am 5'6. I, like most of ya'll, have tried and failed at just about every diet there is and I seriously believe I can not win this battle on my own.  I have many questions about how to start the process of having weight loss surgery. I have read about some surgeries and I believe the RNY would work the best for me. I have not called a doc, although I am considering Hugh Houston, M.D., and I am very nervous just about making that call. I will be self-pay.  I guess I'll just jump right in with some of my questions.. Will I even qualify since I do not have any medical issues such as High Blood pressure or sleep apnea? Will they do the surgery if you are just obese with no health problems(that I know of)? What will the docs office ask when I call? I guess I just want to know how the process starts. Will they make an appointment?   Any advice about any part of this process would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance Candi

Hi & welcome Candi,   You will get all your answers from here. Not from me because I haven't been approved yet. I have been trying over a yr. I don't have any health issues either, just high bmi & more over-weight than you. But, I am going through my insurance. I would suggest going to a seminar first to learn what is involed in this surgery. It is a lifetime of changes. You need to learn the ups & downs if you haven't researched it. After the seminar maybe you can set up a appointment with Dr. Houston. He will decide if you need the surgery. Someone on this post may can tell you if Dr. Houston does seminars & how to get the schedule. The first doctor visit is to see if this is what you really want to do & if you qualify. Best of luck, Ellen

Hi Candi. I am Misty. I am 27 too and felt like I needed to get my weight under control at my age also. The first step is attending a seminar at the hospital. I do not believe you can even set up an appointment to see the Doc until you have done this. So find out when the next seminar is at that hospital and go (usually you can look online to see when). You can even attend two or three seminars at different hospitals. I went to three. All are going to be a little different and it may help to make a decision on which hospital or surgeon to use. Plus, with you being self pay, you are normally able to speak with an insurance/finance rep at the seminars and you can get  an idea of cost from each hospital too. The seminars are very informativeand will help a lot. Once you have done that, you will be able to set up a consult to see the doc and get started with all of the tests and process to go through. There are several tests you have to do depending on your health. I know the basics are blood tests, an EKG, and sometimes a gallbladder ultrasound. You normally have to see a nutritionist to get a better understanding of life after surgery and you may have to have a psych exam. I am not sure if they do that with self pay but they do that when insurance pays. As far as qualifying for surgery - you will qualify if you have a BMI over 40 and do not have any health problems or have a BMI between 35-40 and have at least 2 health problems. From you weight and height, it looks like your BMI is 39.9 so right at 40. Therefore, I do not believe you will have any problems qualifying for the surgery without having any health problems. They may try to sway you to the lapband surgery as opposed to the RNY since it is less invasive and it is typically used for people who have less weight to lose. But you will learn about all of that at the seminar and can make you own decision which surgery is best for you.  Good luck on your journey to weight loss no matter what method you chose. I wish you sucess.

Hello Candi, My name is Candy as well!!!  I live in Morgan Co and my husband works in Crossville.  I am having surgery Oct 1st and I too am self paying.  Contact your doctor of choice and schedule the seminar..it will be very informative.  I have been lurking through this forum for a couple of months and have gained alot of information.....Nerves are a given, just make the first step to determine what is best for yourself. Good luck  Candy

I attended Dr. Houstons seminar and was very impressed.  He did say if you are self pay you would get scheduled right away, like in days.  They have the basic exams but to my knowledge not as much as would be with insurance.  I ended up going to a Baptist seminar with Dr. McDowell because Centennial didn't take my insurance.  You will be very impressed with Centennial.  But I am happy with Baptist for the most part.   I had my rny nearly a month ago and I have lost 30lbs, though am much heavier than you are.  It has been a difficult time, not emotionally, just going from being hungry and eating all the time and drinking lots of water to going to having little to no appetite and trying to force in 60gms protein and 64 oz of water.  I still haven't yet in any given day.  Not to mention the frist couple weeks were painful and no enery at all til the 4th week.  I was off work for 3 weeks and sure needed every bit of it.  Make sure you read all you can on the boards and other sites read peoples stories.  I spent countless hours reading the ups and downs.  Then made my decision.  Good luck to you!

Hi Candi!  Welcome to the TN board.  Definitely get the seminar setup as your first step.  They are very informative and you'll find out most of what you need to know that evening.  Check around and go to several seminars, too... especially since you are self-paying.  You'll be able to choose according to prices and the surgeon you like best and feel most confident with.  Best wishes to you and please keep us updated!

Hi there I am fairly new as well, I have went to the seminar at Vanderbilt, and have my first appointment on Oct. 30, so I am excited to see what happens there.  I dont have any answers for you, but I do wish you lots of luck.  I also live in Sunbright, so we are kinda neighbors.  If you know of any support groups in the area, Cumberland/Putnam county, please let me know.  Good luck on your journey, You will find lots of support here. Hugs Maggie

Call and set up a seminar.  You can click on the link at the top of the page for CMC and on the website is says "schedule a seminar".   At the seminar, you will get a bunch of information to fill out and submit to the office.  Then you are set up to see the nutritionist and the Dr. You will schedule surgery with Holly (who is fabulous).  She will have you set up for preadmitting and lab/ekg. I was/am also self pay.  I chose lap-band.  It took 4-6 weeks from seminar to surgery! Dr. Houston is great. 

 

  Hi Candi,            I just want to welcome you and let you know that you are in the right place for support and answers to your questions.  You have gotten a lot of wonderful advice, however I just want to stress that making sure you chose the right Dr. and program is very important, because this surgery is not like others where your relationship with the surgeon is over a few weeks after your surgery, it is a lifetime relationship!!!  I wish you the best of luck and feel free to ask any other questions as they come up and someone will answer them for you!! Shelia